Potatoes are one of the most commonly consumed vegetables, but they may extremely harmful in some situations. When potatoes are not kept properly, they decay and emit harmful gas. Rotten potatoes stink and might make you sick. In this article, we will see how rotten potatoes affect your health or might kill you.
Rotten Potatoes Poisonous Gas
The Poisonous gas emitted by rotten potatoes has a high concentration of glycoalkaloids. Plants require glycoalkaloids that are found in potatoes to preserve themselves from pests and diseases. Unfortunately, this chemical is harmful to humans. Even in small amounts, it can cause major health issues and even death if inhaled.
Why Potatoes Turn Green?
When potatoes are exposed to light, they begin to produce chlorophyll, the green pigment responsible for the color of many plants and algae. This causes potatoes to become green rather than yellow or light brown. This process often occurs in dark colors potatoes; however, the dark pigments may conceal it. Plants can also use chlorophyll to absorb energy from the sun through photosynthesis. Plants can synthesize carbohydrates and oxygen from the sun, water, and carbon dioxide through this process.
Chlorophyll, the green pigment that gives certain potatoes their color, is perfectly safe. It’s found in a lot of the plant foods you eat daily. But, on the other hand, greening in potatoes might indicate the formation of something less desirable and perhaps harmful – a toxic plant compound known as solanine.
Can Rotten Potatoes Kill You?
Yes, Rotten Potatoes can kill any human being as it contains Toxic gases that are very poisonous. Intake of rotten potatoes can result in severe vomiting and diarrhea that induce dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and blood pressure. However, it can cause headaches, moderate conscious disturbance, and eventually death from cardiovascular disease, paralysis of the respiratory system.
How Toxic Gas from Rotten Potatoes Killed a Russian Family
A tragedy occurred in the Chelyabinsk region’s Kusinsky area – four people were killed, including a 16-year-old teenager, as a result of bad potatoes. Potatoes were kept in the basement by the family. The old potatoes have been ripped extremely toxic. Father went down to the basement to get some potatoes. He didn’t come back for a long time. Then mother walked down to see what was going on, but she met the same fate. Brother Mary had no option but to check the basement as well. He, too, did not return. Grandmother, scared of unknown danger, asked for help from her neighbors. However, before they came, she decided to investigate what had occurred. She, too, was unable to return! In the basement, there was no serial murderer.
Unfortunately, it was toxic gases released from rotting potatoes. A little-known truth about typical root crops is that they release a toxin known as a glycoalkaloid as they decay. It is harmful when inhaled. This chemical was responsible for Maria Chelysheva’s family’s unexplained and terrible demise.
How to Prevent Potatoes from becoming Rotten?
Physical damage, exposure to light, and high or low temperatures are the main factors that inhibit glycoalkaloids’ growth in potatoes. So before buying potatoes, check them and make sure they haven’t been damaged or started turning green. Keep them in a cold and dark place at home, such as in a root cellar or basement. To protect them from light, keep them in an airtight sack or plastic bag. It’s not a good idea to keep them in the refrigerator since it’s too cold for potato storage.
Some studies have even found that storing food in the refrigerator raises solanine levels. If you don’t have a cool place to store your potatoes, buy that much you required. Store them in an airtight bag at the back of a cupboard or box, away from light and heat.
The Final Word
So in this article, you have seen how rotten potatoes are harmful and killed a whole family. If you have decaying potatoes in your house, evacuate the area quickly, mask your nose and mouth as a protection, and dispose of the potatoes in a sealed garbage bag or straight onto an outdoor compost heap.